England vs India 2nd test

It's hard to assess Silverwoods performance so far. He's obviously not working with a great deal but we're looking worse by the series. Granted, India are among the better teams in test cricket the minute, but still aren't as good as they'd like to think they are, but it doesn't matter who we play, getting over 600 over two innings is something we struggle to do.

 

Not a cricketer and don’t really watch match now, but couple of stats to show how woeful was with the Bat
1) If you take Root out the rest only scored 236 in 2 innings
2) Extras was second highest scorer in 2nd innings with 29.

 

India thoroughly deserved to win. England are way too inconsistent. When Buttler's wicket fell it was game over. Woeful.

 

No excuses. Take Root out of this side and the stats make for horrific viewing.
We'd probably lose against the mighty Bangladesh and Zimbabwe without Root, Anderson and Robinson. Appreciate Silverwood doesn't have a huge amount to pick from but the batting unit (if you can even call it that) is so so poor. The whole county game needs a complete overhaul.

 

We lost a third of the team in barely an over. We were bowled out with time to spare in just two sessions. The Ashes will not be pretty.

 

The Ashes I am dreading. Bet the Aussies can smell pommie blood already….

 

Plenty of things we can point the finger at here

The ECB.

The current format in English cricket is a hindrance to the test team.

Currently in the middle of the domestic one day and one hundred format of the game. No county cricket being played so how do you select someone for the test team.to replace someone who is out of form?

Chris Silverwood.

The job is too big for him imo. And he hands out test places like its a tombola prize draw.

Joe Root

Great batsman. Questionable test captain.

Injuries

Currently without Archer Stokes Broad Woakes Foakes . If fit would all be playing imo.

 

Absolutely bang on post. There needs to be fundamental changes from head to toe if we want Test cricket to start moving in the right direction. I'm wondering about leaving Silverwood in charge of white ball but bringing someone to solely focus on red ball.

 

Likewise, I didn't see the Barnsley game until I watched the full replay early this morning, so didn't comment on it until then.

 

Silverwood doesn't seem too visible. I'm sure he must have done some interviews, but I can't say I recall him speaking. Bayliss hated speaking to the media, but he fronted things up.

I did catch part of Roots interview. And fair play to him for taking a good portion of the blame, but I grow ever more concerned at this notion of overprotecting those who repeatedly fail and "not to panic".... he said it recently, may have been NZ and its worrying he's said it multiple times. A series defeat, in embarrassingly easy fashion followed by a torrid winter and we're in for a significant overhaul I think.

 

He looked to have a lump in his throat to me. Another sign he needs stripping of the Captaincy.

 

The issue I have with Root is that him accepting the blame for poor captaincy has become too common an event. He wasn't a Captain at Youth level or County level. When you see him in the field he's always laughing and joking and really seems to be taking the game seriously.. which is great for a quality top order batsman but not a quality expected from a Captain. Kohli is exactly the same actually. A poor Captain... Rahane is far better as he proved in Australia.

You look at the other 2 of the 'big 4' Williamson and Smith and they look focused and deep in thought almost all the time in the field. Very different to Root and Kohli.

Root has the captaincy because we have noone else holding down a safe enough spot in the side. He also has this knack of doing a passable, sometimes even good, job as Captain for a few sessions then suddenly capitulating under pressure.

I've supported him continually for a long time and always tried to stay positive about those side but yesterday was the straw that broke the camel's back. I've reflected on my statements yesterday and I'm sticking with them. Yesterday was the worst day of test cricket by and English side in 30 years of watching them.. and the first session was the most inept session I've seen by any side.

 

From his first interview, to whenever his last as captain will be, he's a poor orator. I've always felt the best captains in cricket are calm but strong, in actions, body language and words. Vaughan, Strauss and Cook (probably least so out of the 3) were decent examples of that.

It's impossible not to rate Root as a batsman. But in terms of decision making, tactics, motivation, oratory skills... he lacks in all of them.

As many have said though, where do you look to replace him, and if we stripped him of the captaincy, does that actually reduce the effectiveness of his batting?

There are no obvious solutions at the minute, either easy or difficult.

 

Kohli was giving it the big one all of day 5, which has got some unwarranted stick. If people don't want to see him behave like that then don't lose the game.

 

I agree and it's hard to offer up an alternative. I think the ECB are pensioning players off too early though. Could Alistair Cook be tempted back? He's only 36 years old. Gooch and Gatting played into their 40's. Maybe Iain Bell?

It's far out I know. Maybe a Captain who doesn't have a speciality but is a master tactician? A modern day Dermot Reeve or Mark Nicholas?

 

Give him a break! Why he got the boos when he more or less got half our runs is beyond me. You can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear ! Fair play to him he took the blame on himself but the rest of the team were shambolic.

 

He was nearly crying on the SSN interview I saw last night. Nothing to do with his batting.

 

Fully agree about Kohli too. And getting an ever increasing dislike for the narcissistic pantomime he brings. And his batting skills feel well below their zenith.

Root was always a bit of a joker in the dressing room, I suspect to hide his own nervousness, but he isn't and never was captain material and you're spot on with his body language. I got criticised years ago for highlighting his limitations as captain, but hey ho. The weaknesses were evident then and its cost us numerous times.

I think Adelaide under Flintoff takes some beating. We've had similar batting failures under 4th innings pressure, especially of late so the thing to elevate it to the worst ever would be the partnership of Shami and Bumrah.

I still think Adelaide was worse, but yesterday was dismal, and not surprising once the runs were on the board. But there was no leadership, even though things were being tried, it just all felt random and disjointed. I just don't understand how yorkers on leg stump aren't a go to delivery against the tail.

The question is do the ECB have the bravery to make decisions to benefit the test team. Is this summer just a write off because of schedule and the priority to them of the hundred, or is money more important. Maybe it needs yet another embarrassing 5-0 down under to sow discord for action to be taken. Who knows.

 

isn't that the passion that so many want. I'd be crying if I was top scorer yet again on 33, where is the rest of the team!?

 

Not when you're supposed to be the coolest head in the team. I get your point about passion. However, look at Hussain and Vaughan when he gave up the Captaincy. The emotion had got to them. It's a sign of a crack appearing.